RHINELANDER MEMORIAL

CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY

By William Rhinelander Stewart

On East 88th Street near Second Avenue, in a crowded
tenement district, stands one of the most beautiful ecclesi¬
astical groups of buildings in the City of New York.
The story of why this site was chosen might well be told
in a separate volume as no other church in the city has so
interesting a family history associated with it, but the
necessary limitations of this publication permit only a
summarization here.

Of German descent, Philip Jacob Rhinelander, on Oc¬
tober 22, 1685, when the Edict of Nantes was revoked by
Louis XIV of France, was living with his family near
Oberwesel, not far from Mainz, on the left bank of the
Rhine, then French by conquest. They were Huguenots,
and the revocation withdrew protection from them and
required all children to be educated in the Roman Catholic
obedience. Thus confronted with the alternative of chang¬
ing his religion or leaving his native country, Rhinelander
lost no time in deciding, came with his family to America
in 1686, and settled in New Rochelle, Westchester County,
in the Province of New York, which was founded by
French Hugenots.   There he died at a good old age.

A grandson of Philip Jacob Rhinelander, named Wil¬
liam, born at New Rochelle in 1718, moved to New York,
where he acquired real property in 1744, and dying in
1777, was buried in Trinity Church-yard, the family hav¬
ing before this date conformed to the Church of England.

To William Rhinelander was born a son in New York,
May 29, 1753, to whom he gave his name.   This William

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